Apparatus for treating yarn.



R. K. CLARK.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING YARN.

APPLICATION FILED APR-4,1917.

Patented Jan. 15, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

R. K. CLARK.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING YARN.

APPLICATION FILED APR.4, I917.

Patented Jan. 15, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2 //2 7 E/fCZarZc 515 214/,3/ ClHo cmny PATENT @FFTQE.

ROBERT K. CLARK, OF WEST SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THEAMERICAN THREAD COMPANY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, A. GORPORA- TION OFNEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING YARN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. f5, 1918 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT K. CLARK, a citizen of the United States,residing at West Springfield, county ofHampden, State of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus forTreating Yarn, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

My invention relates to the manufacture of cotton yarn and has for itsobject to provide apparatus for producing a cotton yarn having a twistedcore with a flocculent exterio adherin thereto capable of being used inthe production of thick and flufi'y fabrics, sweaters and the like, of awarm and soft nature, in which the interstices of the fabric whenloosely knit or woven shall be largely filled up with a flocculentmaterial adhering to the surface of the yarn. Cotton yarn of such naturemay be described as fluifed yarn, and the action by which it is producedmay be called flufling by which I mean the partial combing out of enoughof the fibers of a strand of yarn to produce a continuous flocculentsurface thereon, which is secured thereto. I believe such fluffed yarn,as well as the apparatus and method which I have devised for producingit, to be novel with me.

The following is a description of my invention, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, WhlCh show apparatus embodying the mechanicalfeatures of my invention and suitable for carrying out my process andalso show the product produced thereby. In these drawings,

Figure 1' shows a side elevation of a machine embodying my improvedapparatus; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same;

Fig. 3 is a plan view;

Fig. 4 i a diagrammatic view of the apparatus, and

Fig. 5 is a view of the product.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 is a frame carrying acreel 2 supporting a series of bobbings 3, having wound thereon looselytwisted yarn 4. This loosely twisted yarn is made up of a plurality ofloosely twisted strands which are themselves loosely twisted together,the yarn preferably being a two-ply yarn. Mounted upon the frame is aguide tension bar 5, beneath which the strands 4 of yarn pass to agrooved guidebar 6, from which they pass to other guide bars 7 and 8,the latter being also grooved, and to leather covered nip or pullingrollers 9 and 10 between which they pass. The nip roll are power-drivenby gearing from the shaft of an adjacent roller 12 reducing from about 5to 1. The tension bar 5 alines the various strands so that theythereafter lie in a common plane and creates enough tension to preventirregularities of pull of the yarn coming 03 the spools beingtransmitted to the rest of the machine. The guide-bars 6, 7 and 8 areshown in the form of rolls, which may be mounted so as to freelyrevolve. Between the bars 6 and 7 is a roller 11 covered with projectingneedles of springy tempered wire so as to have a fiuffing or nappingsurface and between the bars 7 and 8 is a second similar flufiing roller12, the two rollers being geared together, by gears 13 and the shaft ofone of them is provided with a pulley 14 which is driven by a belt fromthe motor 15. The wire teeth or needles of these flufling or nappingrollers are preferably straight instead of bent as in ordinary cardclothing and are substantially perpendicular to the surfaces of theirrollers. The flutfing rollers are substantially the same as in regulargigging machines for finishing woven fabrics, except that I preferablymake the needles straight. The roller 11, as shown in Fig. 2, operatesclockwise, while the other roller 12 operates counter-clockwise, so thattheir movements are in opposite directions, the first roller turningtoward the point from which the yarn passes and its movement thus beingagainst or in opposition to the movement of the yarn. The bars 6, 7 and8 are vertically adjustable and are so adjusted that the strands of yarnpassing over them are in proper engagement with the needle points uponthe fluffing rollers 11 and 12 to raise the fiber onthe yarn exterior.The bar 7 positions the strands for the two rollers 11 and 12 and actsto prevent the yarn from getting slack and entan led in the needles. Theamount of flocculent material formed on the exterior of the yarn can bevaried somewhat by changing the positions of the strands relatively tothe needles by 1 rollers 11 and 12 revolve at a relatively high rate ofspeed so that their peripheral surfaces move at about the rate of 1,000feet a minute, While the yarn passes forward at the rate of about 75feet a minute, due to the corresponding peripheral speed of the niprolls 9 and 10. The teeth upon the fiufling rollers engaging fibers uponthe exterior of the strands partially free them from the twisted strandswith the result that there is produced upon the surface of the strands aflocculent exterior composed of a multiplicity of fibers, one end ofeach of which extends into the twisted core, so as to be intermingledwith the fibers thereof, resulting in a product which is represented, aswell as it can be, in Fig. 5. Each strand after this flocculent exteriorhas been produced thereon passes between the nip rollers 9 and 10 and isthen wound into cylinders or other suitable form by any suitable take-upmechanism 16, preferably a drum winder having a suitable traverse. Thestrands of yarn as they pass from the bar 6 are kept under a lighttension so as to prevent the strands from being caught upon the fluflingrollers. The action of the flufling roller 11 increases this tension inthe strands of yarn that have assed it, but should not stretch them sotig tly as to interfere with the fluffing, needles getting hold offibers on their exteriors and partially freeing the same from thetwisted cores. The machine treats a multiplicity of strands at the sametime, the strands being kept parallel and treated independently a theypass between the bars 6 and 8.

In carrying out my'process I supply a plurality of separate strands ofloosely twisted multiple-ply yarn to the machine in the manner abovedescribed andsubject the strands as they pass between the points on thebars 6 and 8 under the tension as above specified, to the fluffingaction of rollers 11 and 12 so as to artially comb out and free enoughof the fi ers extending to the exterior of the untreated yarn to producethe desired flocculent result. I preferably cause the roller 11 firstengaging the yarn to rotate in the direction of the point from which theyarn comes, i. 6., in opposition to the movement of the yarn, and theother roller 12 to rotate in the opposite direction. This results-in acounter-balancing pull on the intervening portion of the yarn so thatthe pull necessary'to draw the-yarn through the machine is not seriouslyaflected by the action of the fiufiing rollers and a slack which maybecome entangled is not likely to be produced. This relation ofperipheral rotation also accomplishes the result of raising the fibersin more than one direction, thus producing a more general flufling- Asthe yarn pa'sses between the two points 6 and 8, 1t revolves slightly onits own axis on aclengths of masses count of the twist therein and thetension under which it is placed, and also on account of the action ofthe fluffing cylinders thereon, With the result that substantially allsides of the strands are subjected to the fiufling or napping action ofthe wire needles so that the flocculent surface extends to all sides ofthe strand.

The yarn after being treated so as to constitute my new product, iscomposed of a loosely twisted core 17 having afluffy orflocculent'surface 18 comprising a multiplicity of fibers which haveends extending into the strands of said twisted core and free endspresenting a woolly external surface. The outer ends of these partiallyreleased fibers are free while the inner ends extend into the twistedcore so as to be intermingled with the fibers of the strands of which itis composed and secure the flocculent exterior to the core. With cottontreated by this process, the length of the exposed ends of the fibersconstituting said flocculent surface. may on the average exceed twicethe diameter of the core when the core does not exceed one sixteenthFig. 5.

While I am aware that woven fabrics have been teazeled by machinery, anda teazeled product produced thereby, I am not aware that anyone hasdevised an appara-' tus for or process of teazeling unfabricated yarn,or produced. a length of yarn having a continuous teazeled surfaceconsisting of fibers which were originally within a twisted strand, buthave been pulled out so as to be, as in my product, partially but notwholly detached.

The process and product described herein. are claimed in a divisionalapplication filed;

b me on the 21st day of June, 1917, Serial As will be evident to thoseskilled in the art, my invention permits of various modificationswithout departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appendedclaims.

What I claim is:

1. In an apparatus for treating yarn, the combination of a packageholder for a wound strand of yarn, means for continu ously passing anextended length of said ,yarn held under tension between two points,

a flufling surface engaging said yarn as it passes between said points,and means for moving said flufling surface toward one of said two pointsso as to partially free fibers extending to the surface of said yarn,and a take-up for an individual strand of yarn.

2. In an apparatus for'treating yarn, the combination of a packageholder for a wound strand of yarn, means for continuously passing anextended length of said yarn between two points, a fluffing surfaceengaging said yarn as it passes between said points, means for movingsaid fluffing surof an inch, as shown inv asaspea a face continuouslytoward the point from which said yarn comes so as to partially freefibers extending to the surface of said yarn, and a take-up for anindividual strand of yarn.

3. In an apparatus for treating yarn, the combination of a packageholder for a wound strand of yarn, means for continuously passing anextended length of said yarn between two points, two fiufiing rollersengaging said yarn as it passes between said two points, means forrotating said flufiing rollers in opposite directions so as to paritially free fibers extending to the surface of said yarn, and a take-upfor an individual strand of yarn.

4:. In an apparatus for treating yarn, the combination of a packageholder for a wound strand of yarn, means for continuously passing anextended length of said yarn between two points, two flufiing rollersengaging said yarn as it passes between said two points, means forrotating the first of said fiufiing rollers in opposition to themovement of said yarn, and the other roller in the opposite direction soas to partially free fibers extending to the surface of said' yarn, anda take-up for an individual strand of yarn.

5. In an apparatus for treating yarn, the combination of means forsupporting a plurality of packages of wound yarn to be treated, meansfor holding a plurality of extended lengths of said yarn parallel andmoving them between two points, a flufiing roller engaging said strandsas they move between said two points, means for rotating said fluffingroller, and take-ups for the individual strands of yarn.

6. In an apparatus for treating yarn, the combination of means forsupporting a plurality of packages of wound yarn to be treated, meansfor holding a plurality of extended lengths of. said yarn parallel andmoving them between two points, two flufiing rollers engaging saidstrands as they pass between sald two points, means for rotating saidfiufling rollers, supporting means engaging said strands at pointsbetween said flufling rollers and holding said strands away from theaxisof said rollers, and take-ups for the individual strands of yarn.

ROBERT K. CLARK. K

